Z4MC Oil Change

[jezzaaa]

Guys - as with all my cars, I've never liked these 15-20,000 mile oil changes so am looking to change it now. Does it need any special tools etc to remove the filter and sump plug?

Cheers,
J.

[buffly]

No special tools needed, just a 13mm socket for the filter, and a 5mm or a 6mm allen key for the sump plug... 5.5 litres i think? Dealers use Castrol TWS oil. Hope this helps!

[jezzaaa]

Many thanks Buffly...it does indeed! ;-)

Cheers,
J.

[jezzaaa]

Ok, I've tried to find TWS oil. The Castrol site only gives something called Edge, which it suggests when you go through the system which tells you which oil you should use for any given car. Is Edge the same, does anyone know?

Cheers,
J.

[Olf]

jezzaaa said:

Ok, I've tried to find TWS oil. The Castrol site only gives something called Edge, which it suggests when you go through the system which tells you which oil you should use for any given car. Is Edge the same, does anyone know?

Cheers,
J.

Ring your BMW dealer and get the specific grade they use. Tell em it's for top up or something.

[Rhathaway]

Edge is the same as TWS (think they're phasing out TWS, or it's becoming OEM only). Just take care to not get the Edge Sport variety - Edge 10w/60 is the only oil recommended for recent M cars.

[plowy]

Dealers do indeed use castrol TWS, the last two oil changes i have done on my Z4 3.0i i have used Mobil 1 and i swear blind it revs better and runs freer..

[Silent1]

plowy said:

Dealers do indeed use castrol TWS, the last two oil changes i have done on my Z4 3.0i i have used Mobil 1 and i swear blind it revs better and runs freer..

Call BMW and tell them then, they must of missed it in R&D!

[Olf]

BMW and Castrol have been in bed for many years. It may well be that there are better options. Problem is, do you want it all mixed up when the dealer puts castrol back in again?

[Zhead]

not wishing to be too environmental on this matter, but how many miles have you done? TWS synthetic, is really designed to last much longer than good ol' GTX mineral based oil. So do you really want to 'recycle' perfectly good engine oil. I agree it seems strange, perhaps just change the filter. I assume you have warranty. If it goes bang you are covered. TWS is only available in 1 litre cans and cost a zillion pounds a litre.

[buffly]

Castrol TWS - 10W 60...

[jezzaaa]

Zhead said:

not wishing to be too environmental on this matter, but how many miles have you done? TWS synthetic, is really designed to last much longer than good ol' GTX mineral based oil. So do you really want to 'recycle' perfectly good engine oil. I agree it seems strange, perhaps just change the filter. I assume you have warranty. If it goes bang you are covered. TWS is only available in 1 litre cans and cost a zillion pounds a litre.

I'm not wishing to be environmnental at all, no. In fact, I'm fed up with it being shoved down my throat at every opportunity, with people trying to make me feel guilty. If I'd wanted to do my bit for the environment, I'd have bought a Hummer.

Edited by jezzaaa on Thursday 19th July 21:13

[Olf]

jezzaaa said:

Zhead said:

not wishing to be too environmental on this matter, but how many miles have you done? TWS synthetic, is really designed to last much longer than good ol' GTX mineral based oil. So do you really want to 'recycle' perfectly good engine oil. I agree it seems strange, perhaps just change the filter. I assume you have warranty. If it goes bang you are covered. TWS is only available in 1 litre cans and cost a zillion pounds a litre.

I'm not wishing to be environmnental at all, no. In fact, I'm fed up with it being shoved down my throat at every opportunity, with people trying to make me feel guilty.

Fry chips in it for a couple of weeks.

[plowy]

Silent1 said:

plowy said:

Dealers do indeed use castrol TWS, the last two oil changes i have done on my Z4 3.0i i have used Mobil 1 and i swear blind it revs better and runs freer..

Call BMW and tell them then, they must of missed it in R&D!

Pointless doing that coz Mobil will not pay BMW money to use thier oils the way Castrol do, outcome of which is getting everyone thinking these oils are the best options for these cars, So nothing to do with R & D...

[joust]

jezzaaa said:

Guys - as with all my cars, I've never liked these 15-20,000 mile oil changes so am looking to change it now. Does it need any special tools etc to remove the filter and sump plug?
Cheers,
J.

Why don't you? The major issue with oil is contamination from blow-by from the pistons. Modern engines, even more so M series, have tolerences that are an order of magnitude better than engines 5-10 years ago.

Given the stakes in warranty claims, do you really think they would set the computer to anything higher than the optimum change point with a large amount of headroom for the sake of £40 in cost on a £40k car.....

J